Stay in the loop

It's the end of an era in Yorkville, as the last coffee shop with ties to the neighbourhood's hip heyday in the 1960s has decided to close its doors. The Coffee Mill, that now dated Hungarian cafe with the nice courtyard patio off Yorkville Avenue is calling it quits after over 50 years in business. The Star frames the closure as a result of TIFF's move to King West, but there's really a surfeit of reasons why the old school business just wasn't viable in the Yorkville of today.

The Yorkville power brokers do their business on the patio at One nowadays, and the dual rise of corporate coffee shops and trendy restaurants in the area has left the Coffee Mill as a throwback that can't keep up, despite the loyal following of regulars the cafe still boasts to this day. You won't find a better bowl of goulash soup in the neighbourhood (and some would argue the city), but Yorkville isn't a place that's easy on businesses with hidden gem status.

Martha von Heczey's restaurant was a patio pioneer in the neighbourhood, one that would embrace coffee house culture like no other in Toronto, but the bohemian spirit fled Yorkville decades ago. And while the restaurant adapted to newer versions of the neighbourhood, there's not enough nostalgia to keep it relevant these days. The Coffee Mill will shut its doors September 7th.